By Carol Fisher Linn
Small Business Week is May 4-10, 2025 and has been taking place for more than 60 years.
In Ellicottville, Bemus Point, Mayville and all small towns across America, our communities are often supported and thriving thanks to the many people who put themselves, and all they have on the line, bringing a new small business to the community. In many of those towns every week should be small business week. Without them, their dream and the courage to believe in themselves and their customers, we would all be shopping on E Bay, Amazon, or Walmart hoping to find the one-of-a-kind items we find in small business shops, the hand-made, locally produced, the artistic and uber creative pieces, the brilliant and exceptional choices of small business retailers, bringing to your communities the special, the unique and the necessary. Not to mention the convenience of heading to your local downtown to shop.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster.
Melissa Baideme, is the owner of C.K. Natural Fruit Juice
LLC. from Westfield, NY. They are a food and beverage manufacturer
and wholesale distributor of Concord, Niagara, and
Catawba Grape Juice Concentrates, Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate,
as well as Concord Grape Vinaigrette and various
other sauces and food products..
“For more than 60 years, National Small Business Week has honored the risk takers, innovators and job creators who are the backbone of the American economy,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said. “I congratulate the more than 50 state and territory winners on their recognition and look forward to this week of education and appreciation for entrepreneurship – as we highlight the small business owners who fuel prosperity, growth, and opportunity in communities across our country.”
We are excited to report to you that the NYS award winner, Melissa Baideme, is the owner of C.K. Natural Fruit Juice LLC. from Westfield, NY. They are a food and beverage manufacturer and wholesale distributor of Concord, Niagara, and Catawba Grape Juice Concentrates, Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate, as well as Concord Grape Vinaigrette and various other sauces and food products. Their most popular products are from various grape products which originate from the hard-working farm families (Growers’ Co-op) of the Lake Erie Grape Belt. Growers’ Co-Op was started in 1929 and is the processing facility that represents approximately 71 local farmers and over 3,000 acres of grapes in the Lake Erie Grape Region of New York and Pennsylvania which is the oldest and largest Concord Grape growing region in the world.
to her winning that award to represent NYS small
businesses. Think about it. In her case, although
she has few employees, what she does is provide
a vehicle for the 71 farmers in the Growers’ Co-op
(pictured) to move their products across America.
Her small business (@cknaturalfruitjuice) contributes
to the well-being of those 71 farm businesses,
their families, their employees, and to the communities
they shop in.
In speaking with Baideme, she told of an interesting life story that unraveled taking her from growing up on a beef farm in French Creek (near Peek n’ Peak) to school in Lake Placid so she could ski race, then on to New Hampshire and, at age 30, coming back home and going into law enforcement. There, the twists of fate introduced her to future husband, Nathan, a native of Westfield and 4th generation grape farmer. Literally, through the grapevine, the simplified version is they heard about a business for sale – a woman was bottling and shipping juice, a lot of juice and needed to get out of the business due to health reasons. Baideme bought it.
She set out to learn all she could about the grape business. She learned as much as she could through the local grape farmers, took classes at Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to complete her training for her HACCP certificate (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), developed a business plan and then reached out to Jamestown’s SBDC (Small Business Development Center), an arm of the SBA. This is where the magic began to happen. With a solid business plan, they saw at SBDC that she was intent on making a success of her business and wanted to positively impact her community.
Impacting the community turned out to be the keys to her winning that award to represent NYS small businesses. Think about it. In her case, although she has few employees, what she does is provide a vehicle for the 71 farmers in the Growers’ Co-op to move their products across America. Her small business (@cknaturalfruitjuice) contributes to the well-being of those 71 farm businesses, their families, their employees, and to the communities they shop in. When a local bakery sources local, when a retail shop carries local hand crafted or hires local people, when a candy shop carries local maple products, or the sports shop offers high quality gear people can buy locally rather than through big box stores, the ripple effect increases. Bottom line, when you walk through the doors of a local small business, think of all the industries that were supported because someone thought to rent a storefront in your town and got to work. Buy local.